The Search of a lifetime
by AramisThorongil
Summary: The five gundam pilots are always being hunted, but not always by the enemy. This multi chapter story details the search for the pilots by some new friends that they'll be glad to have.
1. Default Chapter

Welcome to my attempt at a mobile suit Gundam Wing fic. I don't know all that much about this series. So don't yell at me if I mess something up. If I do mess something up, please let me know and I'll change it. I don't own Gundam Wing. I know the TV show is copywrited to Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment. I also do not own Kaylynn. She is Pop Flower Millennium's. I do not own Lita. She is Anthy Kilik's. I do not own Catana. She is Pop's little sister's. I do not own Li. He belongs to Demon of Shadows. Also I would like to add that I have never met him, but I needed a space filler. So I hope I am doing him justice. I hope you enjoy my fic. See you on the flip side.

            Kaylynn stared hard. Hate was in her eyes. She was ready to start killing everyone. Lita watched her nervously from the other side of the room. She glanced at Jetta, who was directly behind Kaylynn. Jetta was positioned to tackle her at any given moment. All they could do was wait for her to try an attack and do the best they could to stop her. There was no telling what the consequences of her actions would be. When the bell rang to end the class, Lita and Jetta stopped holding their breaths. They knew the teacher's lecture would have made Kaylynn snap if it had lasted any longer. They collected their books and headed to the door with the rest of the students. "Miss Kushrendada," the teacher called, "A word" Kaylynn cringed. Lita smiled a weak smile to try to lighten the mood. She put her hand on Kaylynn's shoulder. "Good luck," she said and walked away. Jetta poked her in the shoulder. "Remember what we've been working on," she said, "Self control. Don't speak, just nod. Do not speak" She backed away, out the door. Kaylynn stalked up to the teacher's desk. 'Do not speak. Do not speak,' she reminded herself silently. She clenched her teeth. "Kaylynn," the teacher said, "I'm getting the impression that you don't enjoy my lectures" She paused and waited for Kaylynn to respond. When she didn't, she continued, "Miss Kushrenada, I realize that your constant traveling makes it difficult for you to commit to things, but I wish you would put more effort into your studies. The information is the same no matter what school you attend. And I have considered that other schools do teach differently and perhaps you were at a different point in this topic. However, I keep my lessons simple. If you are having problems, please ask me for help. Or one of the friends that transferred with you. They seem to understand. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Kaylynn still had her teeth clenched and she was simmering. 'No speak,' she coached herself, 'No speak' But she was about to pop. She managed to nod at the teacher. "So, can I expect to see improvements on your part?" the teacher asked. Kaylynn nodded. Hopefully they wouldn't be there too much longer, so if she could just tell the teacher what she wanted to hear for now she'd be home free. "Alright," the teacher concluded, "You are dismissed" Kaylynn grumbled as she left the room. Jetta and Lita were standing in the hall, looking all too uninterested. She knew they had been pressed against the door the whole time. "I'm hungry," she told them, "Let's go" They followed her down to the mess hall. They found their friends Li and Catana who were waiting for them at a table. "Took you long enough," Li said. Kaylynn made a face at him as he dropped his feet from the bench where they'd been saving space. "We gotta get out of here soon," Kaylynn said, "The teacher expects improvement. Have you guys even been looking?" Catana gave her a look. "Come on," she said, "You know we don't want to stay here either. My classes aren't going so well either you know" Jetta, Lita and Li glanced at each other. They knew that Li and Jetta were doing better than half of the normal students and Lita was a touch above average grades, but they weren't going to mention it. Jetta made an attempt to switch the subject. "You wouldn't think that it would be this hard," she said, "One of them was even on the news while ago. We don't have to start screening do we?" Li frowned as he ran his fingers over the tabletop. "We probably should," he said, "but we'd have to start quickly. We don't know how long they'll be here. They might even be gone already" Lita looked thoughtfully at them. "How can we know for sure?" she asked. "We can't," Jetta said, "I'm not hungry. I think I'll spend this lunch hour at the computer lab. And Lita, I might not be feeling well next hour. Please tell the teacher if she asks" She winked at them as she stood up. "Same here," Li said as he rose. They walked out of the room and down the hall. The others continued their normal schedule and kept up their search for the other five Gundam pilots. They needed to find them and unite. Together they could to reveal the truth. But first they had to find them.

            The sound of keys quickly filled the comp lab. Li and Jetta were hard at work, hacking into the school's database to screen the students. "What do you think they're like?" Jetta asked Li suddenly. The question took him by surprise. "Huh? I guess they won't be too different from us," he answered, "Lost somewhere between childhood and adulthood. Trapped in the vicious cycle of war that seems to have no end and doing the best they can to find peace in all of it" Jetta had stopped typing and was looking blankly at him. "All I'm saying," he explained, "is that they're probably as crazy as us. And probably hate humankind as much as we do" Jetta nodded and went back to what she was doing. She itched the side of her face as she waited for some search results. "It's weird, you know?" she said rocking backward in her chair, "We all hate humankind so much, and yet, they're what we're risking our necks for all the time. Not to mention that they don't appreciate us. I hate them, yet I feel like I have to protect them. It's a love-hate relationship. You know what I mean?" Li grinned. The two of them often were thinking on the same wavelength. He knew he didn't have to answer. He knew what she meant and she knew it. Jetta sat straight again when her results had loaded. She squinted at the tiny print. She thought for a moment, and then punched in a command. All they knew was that the other pilots were all boys about their age and would have been recent transfers. One of them had been on the news. He had long brown hair. That's really all they got out of the news reports. As she started another search she quickly asked St. Anthony (the saint of missing things) for a little help. He must have been listening. The search she had made on sheer hunch turned out to be a success. "Yes," she said. She had used process of elimination on a list of all the boys at the school. She had managed to bring the list down to nine possibilities. She printed out info and pictures of each of them. Li looked over the possibilities as Jetta erased any memory of her searches from the computer's drive. "We got one," Li said, handing her the picture of the pilot from the news. He had a long brown braid and a big dopey grin. "Duo Maxwell," Li read, "Age fifteen. Transferred here two weeks ago. His record is too spotless to be real. The rest, we've got a fifty-fifty" Jetta studied the picture, memorizing his features. The braid would be a dead give away, but if it was tucked away or something, she'd have to know his face. They checked his class schedule. Neither of them had a class with him. Li checked his watch. "If we're still going to be sick next hour," he said, "We could probably catch him before his class" Jetta nodded. It was their best shot. But they had to hurry if they wanted to get to his class before him. They hurried down the hall to the room he was due at for his next class. They stood by the door and waited. He came ambling down the hall. "Duo?" Jetta said when he got close. He was shocked to hear someone address him. "You're Duo Maxwell aren't you?" she asked, now that she had his attention. He eyed them suspiciously and nodded. "Can we have a word with you please?" she asked politely enough. He nodded slowly. They turned down a hall where no people were. "I'm going to be really to the point with you," Li said, "We know that you're a Gundam pilot" Duo's books hit the floor and fell back into a defensive fighting position. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. Li stared at him then turned to Jetta.

"Jumpy, isn't he?" he asked in a monotone. Jetta nodded almost wistfully. Duo's glance shot back and forth between them. "As he should be," Jetta said then turned to Duo, "You don't have to worry. We're pilots too. We're trying to find the rest of the pilots so the ten of us can combine our efforts and really show OZ who's boss" Duo looked at them with a mixture of surprise, confusion, doubt, joy and amusement. "Who are you?" he asked again, letting his guard down. "We're pilots 10 and 09," Li said, "I am Li Shinjuka and this is Jetta Raynnes" She had stooped and gathered Duo's fallen books. She smiled warmly at him as she handed them back. "Ten, huh?" Duo asked, receiving his books, "And you guys have been looking for us? You're a little out of luck. You found me in time but the other four that I hang around with already took off. Don't ask me where they went cause I don't know for sure" Jetta and Li weren't sure whether to be glad that they found this one or be upset they found THIS one. "So,' Jetta asked, "They just left you here?" Duo gave her a sideways look. "Eh," he said, "Its no biggie. We always manage to find one another. How many of you are there? I know you said ten total, but how many have you gathered so far?"  

"There's five of us," Jetta told him, "We knew the five of you were together. We just had to put the two halves together" Duo nodded. He was beginning to understand. Jetta and Li were already forming new plans. Li pulled out the papers with the eight suspected pilots. "Can you tell us which of these are the other pilots?" he asked holding out the papers. Duo flipped through them and casually tossed four of them onto the floor when he saw them. "These are the guys you're looking for," he said giving them back, "But watch out for this one. He might kill you if you don't give him the information in the right order" He was pointing at the top sheet. "Heero Yuy?" Li asked, "Little mean, is he?" Duo gave a laugh and nodded.  He was already late for class, but he'd about stopped caring. "So you guys have been around this whole time?" he asked. "Yup," Jetta said, "We've been doing our share of fighting, but we hardly ever get noticed" Duo nodded. "So do I get to meet the others?" he asked pleasantly. Jetta had a thought. Kaylynn. This Duo guy was pretty cute and he was the type she was interested in. She was going to try to wing it on a prayer because he wasn't a blonde. "Two of them," she told Duo. Li looked at her. He knew what she was thinking. Duo was puzzled. "You'll get to meet them all," Li corrected, "One just might be bound and gagged. She's a little excitable" Duo nodded. They decided to avoid authorities until class ended then meet up with the others. They found an empty room and locked them selves in. Li took out his laptop and entered the information on the other pilots. Suddenly Jetta remembered that they had left the papers Duo had dropped on the floor. She jumped off the desk she'd been sitting on and ran for the door. The two boys watched her as she slowly opened the door to check the hall. "We left the other papers on the floor," she said as she slipped out quickly, locking the door behind her. "Oh man," Li groaned at their carelessness.

            Jetta ran down the hall with silent steps. She skidded to a stop at a corner. She looked down both ends of the hall and listened for any noise. She saw and heard nothing. She had almost reached the turn into the hall where the papers were, when she heard a door. She skidded to a walk in hopes of not attracting as much attention as she would have while running. She still tried to hurry. Someone called after her as she turned the corner. She found the papers and shuffled them into a pile. She heard running and flipped out a lighter. She lit the stack, as the man behind her demanded that she stand up. She pocketed the lighter and rose to face him. He moved to grab the papers, but she stepped into his way. To give it more time to be destroyed. "Now Missy," the guy said, "You're looking for trouble. What were those papers?" She turned and looked at the pile of ash. "Those papers?" she asked innocently, "Those were just old tests that I didn't like my score on" He didn't believe her act. She hadn't expected him to. She knew she was in trouble. She just hoped the other two were staying put.

            When too much time had passed for Li to be comfortable anymore, he began to pace the room. "It shouldn't be taking so long," he growled, "Why isn't she back yet?" He hadn't been talking to anyone but himself, but Duo responded. "Do you think she got caught?" he asked. Li looked pure venom at him, not meaning to be rude to Duo, but he was edgy. He knew he might be blowing this way out of proportion, but he didn't want to take the chance of something serious happening. Just when Li thought he couldn't stand to wait one more second, the buzzer sounded to end class. The two of them took off down the hall to where the papers were left. They found the pile of ash. "Well," Duo said, "she accomplished what she set out to do" 

"But where is she now?" Li pointed out. They went off to find the others.

            "She's what!" Kaylynn hollered at Li. She had indeed noticed Duo, but the Jetta issue distracted her. "We have to find her!" she screamed. Li just stood there and watched her blow off steam. He itched the side of his nose. "Are you finished yet?" he asked, "But even if you're not, we don't know what happened. So we just wait. She may just have detention. We can't do anything yet" Duo, Lita and Catana sat there, watching. 

            Jetta sat casually back in her chair, with her lips pursed and her feet up on another chair. There were three staff members standing around, glaring at her. "So," one man said, "You don't have parents, grandparents, family or guardians of any kind that we could contact. We can't send you home because you don't have an address. What are you?" She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She had been feeding them an excuse for a while now. "I already told you, I can't go home because my parents are in the process of transferring everything to a new house on a new colony," she said, "So I have no home and my parents are currently gone. The rest of my family is dead or on a different colony. You got that, or should I repeat it again?" They were all pretty angry. She still hadn't told them what the papers were. They were trying to expel her, but finding it difficult to get rid of her. "If you want," she suggested, "I'll just go away"

"We need to contact a guardian," they said, "Until then you'll be under our surveillance. We'll be relocating your room and all your belongings. Your books will be returned and you will stop attending classes. This will be going on your record. It will be known to all schools on other colonies" She had to stop herself from laughing. It was amazing how powerful mentioning your record made people feel. If everything ever put on her record was still there, no one would allow her near their school. That was nothing compared to the others she traveled with, but still, a collection of destruction, concealment, and disciplinary issues would not be cause for welcome. It bit that she would be separated from the others. It would be hard for her to get out. She started thinking on a figuratively suicidal wavelength. She would be trapped there forever if the school was waiting to talk to a guardian. She formed a plan.

            When Jetta wasn't in the mess hall for dinner, they were almost over the edge. They decided to go to her room that evening. Surly they would allow her to sleep, even if she was in big trouble. When they got there they found an envelope wedged in the door. They grabbed it and went inside for secrecy. The room had been stripped. The drawers were empty, the sheets were gone and all signs of inhabitance were gone. They sat around the room as Li tore open the envelope. He began reading to the other four:

            Guys,

     Destroyed the evidence, but got caught. Facing expulsion. They want to talk to my guardian before they let me go anywhere. Been moved to new room, under supervision. You guys leave. I'll get out somehow and find you. Just be gone by Friday. Be gone, all five of you! Can't say more. Wrote while packing.

                                                                                                                      Jet

            "She must have left it when they weren't looking," Lita said, "We can't just leave her by herself" They were all thinking. "Then we won't," Duo said forming an idea of his own. Catana spoke up.

"She'll kill us if we don't leave though," she pointed out, "And if we get too much attention it'll be too hard to get us all out" Kaylynn agreed. But they still hadn't heard Duo out yet.

"I know," he explained, "But what if most of us leave and some stage a rescue" They saw logic in it and stared at him. "Do you think it's possible?" Lita asked. Duo gave a cheerful shrug. 

"Heck," he said, "If one guy can stage a rescue and succeed, a couple of us can. And besides, this time we're not facing people who are trying their best to kill us. It'll be easy. Two of stay for the rescue, the other three can take off and wait up for us. We just have to decide who stays and who goes. Each group should have a leader though. I don't know you guys real well so you can assign missions. I don't care myself"

They all nodded. It was a good plan. "Well," Lita said, "Kaylynn has to be part of the away team. She's to clumsy to make a rescue" Kaylynn whacked her in the back of the head. Even though it was true. 

"I want to go with him," Kaylynn said pointing at Duo. Duo pointed to himself quizzically. He didn't know why that was so important. "Then Catana can be part of the away team headed by Duo," Lita said, "Li and I will stage the rescue. Any objections?" Duo, Kaylynn and Duo shook their heads, but Catana raised her hand. "Why did you pick for me?" she demanded, "I never get to choose. I always get screwed over cause I'm younger" Lita and Kaylynn gave her a look and Li nodded.

"Get used to it," Kaylynn instructed. Catana pouted and didn't speak. They decided to do some scouting that night. First they had to find her, and then learn the security barriers. No one was allowed out after curfew so they knew they'd run into some. Duo and Lita did the scouting when Li found her using the computer and they sent the other two to bed. When they were satisfied, they went to bed. All they had to do was live through a few more classes and fine-tune their plan during meals.

            Jetta lied down in her new bed. She hoped the others would get the message. She didn't like having to sleep with a light on so the video camera could see her. She had plans for the camera though. While pretending to sleep, she kicked something off her bed right under the camera where it couldn't see. She rose to retrieve it. When the camera couldn't see her, she began to mess with the interior wiring. When the camera was dead, she worked on the light. Then she slept in peace, but very aware that someone had been posted outside her door after the camera failure. 

            The next day the five pilots got up and went to class. The anticipation was killing all of them. All they could think about was their escape.

            Jetta spent the day in solitary confinement. They had replaced the camera and the light in her bedroom. She spent her time planning an escape. It was Wednesday. She had at least a two-day wait. There was no way she was going to leave before the others. But something in the back of her mind told her that something was going on. She'd heard someone poking around outside last night, and it wasn't the guard.

            "I'm gonna die," Kaylynn shrieked at lunch, "It's only 12:15. I still have three classes to go through like this. And to top it off I have to go through dinner and wait in my room until 11:00. This is killing me"

None of them were happy with the wait either. And it seemed a rather hollow attempt to bother showing up for class. They weren't worried about their records. Records were easy to change. But to be safe, Li would be leaving dinner to erase all files the school had on any of them. The last three classes of the day dragged by slowly. At dinner, Li left for the comp lab. A staff member came in and got a tray full of healthy food. As he passed, they stared. Lean turkey on rye bread, some soggy green beans, a lemon slice, a piece of cheese and a glass of water were on the tray. "You gonna eat all that?" Kaylynn asked, semi-grossed out. He laughed. "No way," he chuckled, "This is for someone who deserves it" As he walked away the four of them looked at each other. "They're feeding Jetta that?" Kaylynn said, "That's just evil. Evil!" She couldn't eat her food after thinking of Jetta eating that. It felt like she'd be backstabbing Jetta by eating decent food. She had beef with a roll, buttered corn, a piece of watermelon, some pudding and chocolate milk. She felt awful. She couldn't wait for them to be out of there.

            This was the fourth disgusting prison meal Jetta had to choke down. Breakfast had been plain and slimy oatmeal with some wheat crackers, water, and a small bowl of cottage cheese. Lunch had been unseasoned mashed potatoes, with a mystery lunchmeat, piece of cheese, and as a special surprise weak apple juice. Now she had this. The same thing she had last night, the water, bland food and the cheese. Always cheese. So much damn cheese. She hated cheese, with a passion. And it was always the same guy. He always got cheese then laughed at her. When she asked if he was eating the same meal, he confessed that he was allergic to dairy but still wasn't eating anything like she was. She wasn't sure she could wait until after Friday to escape.

            That night, she dismantled the camera again. And again there was a guard placed outside her room. She was really starting to hate it there, but she still hadn't figured out how to get away.

            While Jetta was worrying about the video camera, Duo was silently leading Catana and Kaylynn out of the school. They had learned all the security measures and were going to sneak out of the basement with their things. They were also carrying Li and Lita's stuff. When they got out of the school they headed for where they hid their transportation. They all got to their own crafts and took off for space. It was almost too easy. They killed the engines and drifted around the colony, waiting.

            Li and Lita had to climb part of the way through a vent shaft. There were several security checkpoints that they had to avoid. When they got close, they saw the guard. It was the guy who had brought Jetta her food. They faced each other. "Silent and deadly?" Li asked quietly. Lita nodded. At a timed point she ran at the guard like the wind and clonked him good on the head. The sound of his body hitting the floor wasn't loud enough to alert anyone. They got the key from the guard and opened the door. There was no one in there. Any stuff she had was gone, but her full dinner tray remained. The two of them stood in the doorway, dumbfounded. They were suddenly aware of someone standing behind them. They turned to find Jetta with her bag on her back. She has some dust on her clothes, the same kind of dust that was on them. She had escaped through her vent shaft. "Took you guys long enough," she said, "I told you to leave" She said with a slight level of disappointment in her voice. She crossed her arms and waited for an answer. "Hey," Li said, "You told us to be gone by Friday. We still have half an hour until Friday. And you never said that we couldn't bring you with" Lita nodded in agreement. Jetta couldn't help but smile. "I'll try to be more specific from now on," she said. Just as they were about to leave, the guard began to stir. He rose and blocked their way. "All three of you want to be expelled?" he asked. Jetta got angry. She picked up the piece of cheese from her tray. She strode up to him and jammed it in his mouth. "Eat cheese, bastard," she said then punched him on his butt. They walked past him and down the hall.

             Before long, they were all in space. Over the intercom they decided to split up, three groups of two. They all now knew who the pilots were. They would search for them on different colonies. Now that they had Duo, it would be easier. Kaylynn insisted on going with Duo, Lita and Catana would stick together, and Li and Jetta would make the last team. They planned their locations and sped off to continue the search.

            Well I hope it was all right by you. If it wasn't…so what, go suck on a lemon.  This concludes the first part of my epic. I am happy to share with you that it only took me two days to finish. Be sure to tune in next time (whenever that is) to catch the next exciting chapter of my story. Please review. It's good for my self-confidence.


	2. Kaylynn's new friend

            Behold! The next part of my Gundam Wing story: The Search Continues.

All disclaimers hold as before. Quick recap (or if you didn't follow the first time): Five mysterious Gundam pilots (Catana, Jetta, Kaylynn, Li and Lita) have been searching for the original group (Duo, Heero, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei). They find Duo in a school on a colony, but the others are already gone and he doesn't know where. After staging the rescue of Jetta from the in school suspension, they split up and are now continuing their search. Duo and Kaylynn are together, Lita and Catana are together and Li is with Jetta. This is the story of Duo and Kaylynn and their findings. Oh yes, a brief but important warning. Beware Kaylynn's excuse for Li and Jetta's companionship. Don't be mad at me D.O.S. It was a thought I had that I needed to get out of my head. So…you have been warned.

            Duo and Kaylynn's crafts were sized just right so that she could actually land hers inside of his ship. The two of them were sitting in the cockpit, talking. Kaylynn was enthusiastically telling him about her companions. "Catana is just a kid who learned to pilot a Gundam out of necessity when her colony was being attacked," She explained, "She was confronted about it later and became a pilot. I met her when you all came to Earth. I was already there. I'm Treize Kushrenada's daughter you know. I hate my father. We'll probably kill him eventually. All he's good for is getting stuff and power. Lita's one of those soldier-since-birth types. She became an orphan and had to learn early on how to stay alive. She has a talent for survival. She's stronger then the rest of us in an emotional and physical sense. I met her during one of my father's visits to the colonies several years ago. She's one of my best friends. Li I met when he came to Earth. He was a war orphan too. I don't really know that much about him on a personal level. He's kind of closed if you haven't noticed. But he's a real good friend to have. He knows a lot about computers. That's why he gets the laptop. Jetta has a sad story. Jetta's dad was a political leader and her mom was a reverend's daughter. Her dad, her mom, her two little brothers and her dog were killed when she was thirteen, execution style, and right in front of her. That didn't make her real happy. So she took a Gundam and started a revenge strike. She finally came to Earth and gave up. She went to Earth three years before everyone else. That's when I met her. She was a real wreck. She was torn between keeping up her killing spree and just breaking down and begging God for forgiveness. She did the forgiveness thing. She's real religious. You have to be careful what you do and say around her. She can get scary" Duo listened intently. He never met anyone who could keep talking tirelessly for as long as she could, aside from himself. He was scared to ask too many questions, but one kept leaping around on the tip of his tongue. "What's the deal with Li and Jetta?" he asked when she had finished talking, "Are they a couple or something? I mean they're always together and he seemed really put out when she went missing" Kaylynn almost died thinking of what faces Jetta and Li would have made to that question. "No," she said, "Their not a couple. Their just that way because he's seen her with her clothes off" Duo did a double take. Kaylynn just laughed at the look of shock on his face. She could tell that was the last thing he'd been expecting. "Well not all of her clothes. That's how they met," she explained, "Li was hospitalized for awhile a few years ago. It was the same time Jetta's family was murdered. They had attempted to kill her too, but they didn't. She was put in the same hospital. She didn't want to be or stay there. So she tried to escape. After threatening several people, she found her clothes and her trusty handgun. She ducked into a room to avoid security. There was no one in there so she tried to put on her clothes. She had her bra on and as she was pulling up her underwear, back end to the door of course, when the person occupying the room came back. He saw her butt and bra-ed-ness and freaked. She grabbed a blanket and finished changing behind it. He was too in shock to do anything. When he could speak again he agreed to let her hide in his room until things calmed down. They talked and became pretty good friends. She even stayed longer then she thought she would. When they met up on Earth, they were pretty happy to see each other" Duo nodded. He had had suspicions before, but now he was convinced that this group was insane. He liked that. They saw the colony they had been heading for. Kaylynn had been chatting the whole way, but he didn't mind. He enjoyed her company. They landed on the colony. "So everything should be set up for us at the school right?" he asked. She nodded confidently. It was still early in the day so they walked into the school. It was just a day school so they left their stuff in the ship. They found the main office. As planned, they were expected. They were posing as the Maxwell twins. They kinda looked alike if you were upside down and squinting really hard. But then again not all twins look alike. The clerk handed them schedules. Luckily they were identical, they had all the same classes. A staff member was paged to give them a quick tour. They peered inside all the classrooms they could see into, but with no luck. There was only one high school on the colony, if they were on this colony, they'd be here. When they were taken to the class they were supposed to be attending, Duo saw Heero in a different room. The two of them were ushered in and introduced. Before the lesson was resumed, Duo asked if he could go to the bathroom. "Kind of a long trip, you know?" he said. He was excused and he went out into the hall. He found Heero's room and stood just outside the door. He had to start making motions to get Heero's attention. Some other kids noticed him too. He mouthed to Heero to meet him in front of the building after school. When Heero understood, he went back to his room and sat down next to Kaylynn. He whispered the plan to her and they turned their attention to the class, well…at least Duo did. 

            After school Heero walked out and looked around for Duo. He found him standing next to the flagpole with a strange girl. "What are you doing here," Heero asked. Duo smiled at him. By now he was used to the pessimistic attitude Heero had. "I want you to meet someone," Duo said, "This is Kaylynn" He leaned toward Heero's ear and whispered, "A Gundam pilot" Heero's eyes got wide for a second. He looked at the both of them like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why haven't we heard of another Gundam then?" Heero asked quietly. Duo gave him a look. "Not an-other," he said, "Five others. We only make up half the team. They've been fighting too. They've just been more secretive about it. They're an interesting group if you hear some of their stories" He thought about the events in Li's hospital room and couldn't help but smile again. Heero cocked his eyebrows. "We should go somewhere more secret," he said, "Anyone could hear us out here" They agreed and followed him to an abandoned house, where he had taken up residence. They all sat on the floor and said hardly anything. Kaylynn almost burst. She thrived on speech. "So," she started, "How are we gonna get everyone together?" Heero looked at her as if the breaking of the silence had wounded him somehow. "I suppose if we radioed your friends we could have them all come here when they've found everyone," Duo suggested. Kaylynn agreed. It made sense and she wasn't really up to trying to form her own plan. They decided to go back to her craft and radio from there.

After reporting finding Heero to the others and giving them a rendezvous point, the three of them returned to the house to wait for Saturday morning to come. They had dragged some food back with them and were now eating, Duo and Kaylynn enthusiastically and happily, Heero not so much. Kaylynn was appalled by Heero's silence and was desperately trying to get him to say something besides 'Hm'. She pointed her fork at him. "Say catsup," she demanded. Heero replied with, "Hm" Kaylynn repeated herself.

"Catsup!"

"Hm"

"Catsup!"

"Hm"

"Say catsup, damn it!"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," he said and continued eating.

"That's not catsup!" she shrieked.

"Hey," Duo said, smiling broadly, "At least he didn't say 'Hm' right?" Kaylynn smiled in recognition. 

"Yeah!" she laughed, pointing an accusing finger at Heero, "You spoke!" He replied with a simple 'Hm', which thoroughly pissed off Kaylynn. She was silent for a while as she ate. After dinner they cleared away their mess and were sitting in a circle again. Darkness was falling outside. Duo and Kaylynn were having a lively conversation about Heero's grumpiness. Heero charged forward after Duo and pointed his pistol at him. "Do you ever shut up or will I have to shut you up?" he growled. Duo shoved him back a little ways.

"Will you lay off," Duo snapped, "This is what we're talkin' about. You can't take a joke"

"I'll show you a joke," Heero snarled, cocking his gun. 

"Will you two knock it off," Kaylynn yelled. She pointed at Duo. "Let's stop talking about him then," she said, and then rounded on Heero, "And will you just say catsup!" Heero put his gun away and sat back down while Duo chuckled softly. "I can already tell that this is gonna be loads of fun," he said.

"Oh," said Kaylynn sarcastically, "Oodles! I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up till you have to" She walked out of the living room and found a study that still had a busted couch in it. She unrolled a blanket she'd brought from her ship and settled in

            She woke up on her own mid morning of the next day. She wasn't sure where the guys would have slept so she just started looking around the house. She was horrified to find the house deserted aside from herself. "I'm…all alone," she whimpered, then started to bawl. She quite quit crying when she heard a buzzing sound. She answered her videophone. It was one of Treize's cronies. "Miss Kushrenada," he addressed her, "Your father wishes that you return home. He is leaving to a meeting on a colony and he wishes you to be back before his departure" Kaylynn glared at the screen. "Tell my father, that I'll come home when I'm ready!" she screamed, "I'm in the middle of some important business! I don't interrupt him when he's off on his little trips! And you know what? Don't ever call me again! I don't like you! I don't like your attitude! I don't like your voice and I don't like your face! So next time I need to be contacted, have someone else do it, cause I'll get sick and puke all over if I ever see you again!" She maintained her screaming until she had finished and jabbed the disconnect button and snapped the phone shut. When she lowered it she came face to face with the blank and blinking faces of Duo and Heero. They had walked in on the end of her conversation. "What?!" she asked cheerfully. They each had a bag of groceries in their hand. When Kaylynn saw this she dove for Duo's bag. "What'd you get? I'm starving," she snapped. The two stayed still as she rummaged through the bag. "Hey Heero," she said distantly, "You didn't kill some old person for this stuff did you?" She got no response but silence. Kaylynn stopped and held up a box and looked at all sides of the package. "Speaking of old peoples' food," she said shaking it, "Just what the heck is this supposed to be? Rabbit food? Fish food? …Kibble?" Duo moved forward when she ripped open the package and began to rummage through its contents. He knelt down next to her and asked her to give him the box in a very parent-to-small-child voice. She hugged the box to her and in an overly juvenile voice said no. Heero rolled his eyes and walked past them, reaching over and snatching the box from her as he went. She started crying and chucked her shoe at him. He ducked into the kitchen as the shoe flew past him. After a while, Duo's coddling had an effect and she stopped screaming and just had tears rolling down her cheeks. Then he took a chance and left her alone while he went to get her some food. Heero was busy with his own meal when he got in the kitchen. "You didn't have to take it from her like that, you know," Duo said to him. Heero looked at him and swallowed what he was chewing. "She's not a baby," he said, "You can't treat her like she is one" Duo had his back turned and was mocking Heero silently as he put food on a plate. He left the room with, "You don't have to be so mean though" as his last comment. Heero sighed. It was going to be a long, long war.

            Several days later they received a message on Kaylynn's videophone. It was Catana. They had found two of the other pilots, but Lita had been shot. She wasn't in any danger of losing her life, but they would not be able to travel for a few days. They had to go to them. So they phoned Li and Jetta. "This is the second colony we've been to in the last week," Li said. His speech was stabbed by occasional static that told Kaylynn that they were on a colony quite distant from them. "We haven't seen any sign of them" Li stated. Kaylynn filled him in that there was only one left to be found. Trowa Barton. Li confirmed his understanding and said that if they didn't find anyone on the colony they had just arrived at, that they would meet the others on the colony Lita and Catana had started on and start over from there. After getting everything sorted out, Kaylynn shut off the phone and the three of them packed up. When they left it was as if they had never been there. Heero went back to his ship and Kaylynn and Duo got into Duo's. They met up in orbit and took off for the colony. The trip would most likely take two days. Heero was just glad he didn't have to spend those two days with Kaylynn. Kaylynn and Duo, however, were happy as clams in their own weird little way.

                                Alrighty then. This is the end of the chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it thus far. And soon you will get the story on Lita being shot. Get the story? I sound like an anchorperson. Oh well. The point is that this and the next chapter take place at the same time and the ends meet up at the beginning of the chapter after the next one. Never mind. You'll get it when you get there. Don't forget to review. 


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